AWANA Awards Night

Tonight was the awards ceremony for AWANA. This is Danya's last year as a Spark. Next year she'll be in T&T. No more vests, much harder verses to memorize. And after today it may be tougher to make friends, too.

For some reason Ma Bell is really obsessed with the idea of Danya and Gloria being homeschooled. I've already had to have a talk with her a couple of times. She seems upset that they are doing 3rd and 4th grade work when they are younger than she is. She comes up with all kinds of outrageous statements like "gangsters homeschool, don't they?" and "homeschooling makes you dumb."

Today she pushed it even further, though. She told all the kids in the 2nd/3rd grade group at church that Danya and Gloria shouldn't be allowed in the group because they aren't really in those grades. She did her best to embarrass the girls and make them feel like outsiders. Apparently talking and explaining isn't working and I'm going to have to come up with some consequences. I think she's just used to being the boss at her house where she had to be the parent, so maybe this is a way of asserting authority over the girls. She tries it with me, too, contradicting what I tell her and telling me why what I just said no to is really okay for her to do.

This is a new situation for all of us, but I'm hoping that it will work itself out over time. Since Danya and Ma Bell were giggling and whispering together in the back seat this evening, I'm not too terribly concerned about the long term impact on their budding friendship.